Love and Romance

Location

Author

Title

Year

YAalistic Fictione AND

Anderson, Jodi Lynn

Peaches

2005

Thrown together at Darlington Orchard, Murphy, Leeda, and Birdie discover what it means to find a real soul mate, and that sometimes cute boys know a lot about peach cider. And, of course, they learn the trick to picking a perfect peach. One thing's for sure -- it's going to be a juicy summer.

YA BAR

Barnholdt, Lauren

Sometimes it Happens

2011

On the last day of her junior year, Hannah's boyfriend Ryan dumped her. Facing a summer of loneliness, Hannah turns to her best friend Ava for comfort. Ava does what BFFs do: she stays by Hannah's side...until it's time for Ava to head up to Maine for the summer. Also left behind is Ava's boyfriend, Noah, who's such a great guy he gets Hannah a job at the diner he waits tables at. Slowly, Hannah comes out of her funk thanks to Noah's good conversation and their fun times at the diner. But things get complicated when their friendship turns into attraction--and one night, into a passionate kiss.

YA BER

Bernardo, Anilu

Loves Me, Loves Me Not

1998

Cuban American Maggie has a crush on handsome, blond, basketball player Zach, and by helping him with his German grammar, hopes to win him over. Then there's new student Justin, who has a crush on Maggie, and there's Maggie's best friend, Susie, who has a crush on Carlos, and who convinces Maggie to go on a double date: Maggie and Justin, Susie and Carlos. Justin turns out to be solicitous and kind; Carlos to be sex driven.

YA CAB

Cabot, Meg

All-American Girl

2002

Sam Madison never knew life could change overnight. But that's exactly what happens when she saves the life of the President of the United States as she's bunking off art class one night. Now an instant (if highly reluctant and very unlikely) celebrity, not to mention teen ambassador to the United Nations, Sam finds herself not only hanging out at the White House, but trying to stop herself falling for David, the President's son...

[Sequel: Ready or Not.]

YA CON

Conford, Ellen

Crush

1998

In the days before the big Sweetheart Stomp Valentine’s Day dance, B. J. Green finds her thoughts turning to her own love life and those of her fellow students at Cutter’s Forge High School. There’s weird Amy Porter and her equally bizarre boyfriend, Batso; Robert LaMotte, in desperate need of a big makeover and a little romance; and, of course, the handsome, mysterious Alexei Grigorov, Russian exchange student extraordinaire . . . what is his deep, dark secret? That’s one mystery that B. J. wouldn’t mind solving herself !

YA DES

Dessen, Sarah

That Summer

1996

For fifteen-year-old Haven, life is changing too quickly. She's nearly six feet tall, her father is getting remarried, and her sister - the always perfect Ashley - is planning a wedding of her own. Haven wishes things could just go back to the way they were. Then an old boyfriend of Ashley's reenters the picture, and through him, Haven sees the past for what it really was, and comes to grips with the future.

YA DES

Dessen, Sarah

Someone Like You

1998

Quiet Halley and popular Scarlett have been friends for years. They balance each other perfectly - until the summer of their 16th birthday. Then, Scarlett's boyfriend is killed in a motorcycle accident; soon after, she learns that she is carrying his baby. For the first time, Scarlett really needs Halley. And Halley needs Scarlett as she finds herself falling under the spell of her first boyfriend - can she resist his pressure to have sex? True friendship may bend, but it'll never break.

YA DES

Dessen, Sarah

Along for the Ride

2011

Rachel Botchan realizes every opportunity to capture the ironic, dramatic voice that has drawn fans to Sarah Dessen ever since her first book. This book's heroine, Auden, is a studious girl who's acted like an adult for most of her 17 years. She embraces the attitudes of her haughty academic mother, including a horror of her "extraneous, overblown, exuberant" stepmother. All that changes when Auden spends the summer between senior year and college in a beach town, living with her father, stepmother, and newborn stepsister. Auden makes friends with a clique of girls, a mysterious young man, and, most importantly, her real self.

YA ELK

Elkeles, Simone

Perfect Chemistry

2008

When Brittany Ellis walks into chemistry class on the first day of senior year, she has no clue that her carefully created “perfect” life is about to unravel before her eyes. She’s forced to be lab partners with Alex Fuentes, a gang member from the other side of town, and he is about to threaten everything she's worked so hard for - her flawless reputation, her relationship with her boyfriend, and the secret that her home life is anything but perfect. Alex is a bad boy and he knows it. So when he makes a bet with his friends to lure Brittany into his life, he thinks nothing of it. But soon Alex realizes Brittany is a real person with real problems, and suddenly the bet he made in arrogance turns into something much more.

[Also in this trilogy: Rules of Attraction; Chain Reaction.]

YA FRE

Freymann-Weyr, Garret

After the Moment

2009

Maia Morland is pretty, only not pretty-pretty. She’s smart. She’s brave. She’s also a self-proclaimed train wreck. Leigh Hunter is smart, popular, and extremely polite. He’s also completely and forever in love with Maia Morland. Their young love starts off like a romance novel - full of hope, strength, and passion. But life is not a romance novel and theirs will never become a true romance. For when Maia needs him the most, Leigh betrays both her trust and her love. Told with compassion and true understanding, After the Moment is about what happens when a young man discovers that sometimes love fails us, and that, quite often, we fail love.

YA GEE

Geerling, Marjetta

Fancy White Trash

2008

Finding love is simple with the One True Love Plan.

"If only life were as easy as your sisters." Abby's heard that one before. And it's true --Shelby and Kait aren't exactly prim and proper. Abby is determined not to follow in their footsteps, so she has created the One True Love Plan. The most important part of the plan is Rule #1: Find Someone New. This means finding a guy who hasn't already dated Shelby or Kait. But when Abby starts falling for the possible father of Kait's baby, she has to figure out if some rules are meant to be broken.

YA HAR

Harper, Suzanne

The Juliet Club

2008

Kate Sanderson has been burned by love. From now on, she thinks, I will control my own destiny, and I will be reasoned and rational. But life has other things in store for Kate. Namely, a summer abroad studying Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet in the very town where the star-crossed lovers met, Verona, Italy. Kate is thrown together with two other American teens and three Italians for a special seminar—and for volunteer duty at the Juliet Club, where they answer letters from the lovelorn around the world. Can Kate's cool logic withstand the most romantic summer ever? Especially when faced with the ever-so-charming Giacomo and his entrancing eyes . . . ?

YA JON

Jones, Carrie

Girl, Hero

2008

After landing a lead role in the high school musical, freshman Liliana Faltin is hoping for some stability and happiness in her life. But her mom's live-in boyfriend has a thing for booze, touching, and telling dark family secrets. And the other people in her world aren't exactly role-model material, either. Her unreliable father cries a lot, wears blue tights, and drives a little beige car. Her backstabbing best friend cares more about being popular than being real. And her older, married sister is showing up with big purple bruises on her face. Then there's Paolo, who's cute and nice and makes Lily want to recite romantic movie lines.

YA KAN

Kantor, Melissa

Girlfriend Material

2009

Salt Lake City native Katie, 16, is planning a great summer with her friend Laura. She is registered for a fiction writing class and has scheduled daily tennis practices, activities that will keep her out of the house so that she can avoid her warring parents. Suddenly her mom announces that she and Kate will be spending the summer on Cape Cod, at her old friends' house. Although Kate is unhappy that her plans have been shelved, she looks forward to spending time with Sarah, the pretty, self-confident and super-cool hosts' daughter. Unfortunately, Sarah is clearly less than pleased to have a new sidekick. Kate determines to make the best of the situation and lands a job teaching tennis, and eventually Sarah mellows enough to be friendly and include her socially. Kate falls hard for good-looking, smart Adam, necessitating her to deal with a complicated romantic relationship while coping with her parents' possible divorce.

YA KAT

Katcher, Brian

Playing With Matches

2008

Seventeen-year-old Leon Sanders has a mug that looks like it should be hanging in a post office somewhere. If he didn’t have his twisted sense of humor, he’d have nothing at all. So it’s no wonder to Leon and his friends that the gorgeous Amy Green will never even look twice at him. However, there is one girl who might: Melody Hennon. Everyone at Zumner High keeps their distance from Melody because she was burned in a childhood accident. Leon has avoided her, too, until the day he tells her a bad joke and makes her laugh. Although Leon worries what people will think of him dating Melody, he’s happy to have someone in his life who thinks he’s special. That is, happy until Amy Green asks him out after Leon saves her from getting detention. Will Leon give up a shot with the Beauty so that he can live the fairy tale with the Beast?

YA MAN

Manning, Sarra

Pretty Things

2005

Brie is in love with Lancôme Juicy Tubes, Louis Vuitton accessories, and her gay best friend Charlie, who is in love with 1960s pop art, 1980s teen movies, and serial heartbreaker Walker, who has ever only been in love with his VW Bug, until he meets Daisy . . . who is too busy hating everyone to know what love is. Set in London, this girl-loves-boy-loves-boy-loves girl romp is set against a theatrical production of The Taming of the Shrew, and features enough on- and off-stage drama to satisfy teens looking for a beach read - or a read all year round.

YA MAT

Matthews, Andrew

A Winter Night’s Dream

2004

“Go out and fall in love with somebody! It’ll do your understanding of literature the world of good.” For Casey and Stew, this advice from their English teacher is just the beginning. How exactly do they fall in love? Casey meets Dean at a party. Dean is gorgeous, he rides a motorcycle, and he’s dancing with her. But Casey soon discovers that Dean’s rebel-without-a-cause act can only go so far. Stew meets Lucy at the school dance concert. He’s doing the lighting; she’s the star. Everything is going well—until Stew realizes that Lucy’s dancing will always come first. Literature is one thing, but what happens if the person you fall in love with doesn’t fall back?

YA OCO

O’Connell, Tyne

Pulling Princes

2004

When Calypso returns from Los Angeles to her English boarding school for the summer term, she is determined to fit in with the popular crowd. Her plan is to pretend her mother's gay assistant back home is her boyfriend. And to her surprise, the trick works...at least at first. She makes a whole batch of new friends, and even finds herself winning the unwritten contest to woo the prince at the boys' school next door. But one girl, Honey, undermines all her efforts. When Calypso and Prince Freddy end up in the tabloids and everything seems set to go down the drain, it's Calypso's parents and sense of humor that save her from utter humiliation.

True Love, the Sphinx, and Other Unsolvable Riddles: A Comedy in Four Voices

2007

American teenagers Sam and Salah lead fairly uncomplicated lives. They breeze through classes at their prestigious Manhattan high school, their friends and classmates all look up to them, and they've never had to put much effort into attracting girls. But when their class embarks on a field trip to Egypt, complications arise in the forms of Rosie and Octavia, two British beauties who won't be easily charmed. Amid luscious scenes of Egyptian culture and history, these four star-crossed lovers will have to endure mistakes, missteps, and plenty of misunderstandings before they can achieve their hearts' desires.

YA PAL

Palmer, Robin

Cindy Ella

2008

Prom fever has infected LA—especially Cindy’s two annoying stepsisters, and her overly Botoxed stepmother. Cindy seems to be the only one immune to it all. But her anti-prom letter in the school newspaper does more to turn Cindy into Queen of the Freaks than close the gap between the popular kids and the rest of the students. Everyone thinks she’s committed social suicide, except for her two best friends, the yoga goddess India and John Hughes–worshipping Malcolm, and shockingly, the most popular senior at Castle Heights High and Cindy’s crush, Adam Silver. Suddenly Cindy starts to think that maybe her social life could have a happily ever after…

YA SCO

Scott, Kieran

Geek Magnet

2008

Everybody loves KJ. Especially the geeks. See, KJ Miller is super nice, smart, pretty, the stage manager of her high school’s spring musical . . . and a total geek magnet. She’s like the geek pied piper of Washington High, drawing every socially clueless guy in a five-mile radius. If only Cameron, the hottest guy in school, would follow her around and worship her the way her entourage of dorks do. Enter Tama Gold, queen of the popular crowd, and solution to all of KJ’s problems. KJ is too nice, and the nice girl never gets the guy. Tama’s ready to help KJ get cruel, ditch the dorks, and win Cameron’s heart. But is KJ?

YA STA

Standiford, Natalie

The Dating Game

2005

Buddies Madison, Holly, and Lina all become the talk of their high school when they start their own Web site, giving advice and setting up those in need with dates. Holly is dealing with her overdeveloped body and the rumors it has caused while Lina is trying to get her barely-out-of-college teacher to treat her as something more than a student. Madison is trying her hardest to act more grown up and get the cutest boy in school to notice her no matter what it takes.

YA VAI

Vail, Rachel

If We Kiss

2005

What would happen if we kiss?

Kevin led me quickly around the side of the building, then stopped. I managed not to crash into him. I tried to look calm, cool, unperturbed. I told myself not to laugh, especially not a snorting kind of laugh. "Wha . . . what did . . ."

And then he kissed me.

If We Kiss is the story of Charlotte (Charlie to her friends), who finds herself falling for a boy who is off-limits. Her best friend is in love with him, and her mother and his father are dating. Still, Charlie can't help but wonder, what would happen if we kiss?

YA VAI

Vail, Rachel

You, Maybe: the Profound Asymmetry of Love in High School

2006

Josie is independent and fierce. She may flirt with boys or kiss them, but it doesn't mean anything, not even with Michael, who's more like a friend-with-benefits. So how can she explain what happens when Carson Gold goes after her? Carson Gold, the hottest senior, the one everyone secretly watches. . . .

Maybe it's the same thing that causes all the girls to stare as he walks by. Or maybe it's something between them, something just he and Josie share.

Could you resist?

It's too much, when love finds you and pulls you under. It's too much, even for Josie.

YA VAN

Van Draanen, Wendelin

Confessions of a Serial Kisser

2008

Evangeline Logan wants a kiss. A spectacular, heart-stopping, life changing kiss. Somehow The Crimson Kiss (a romance novel she’s become obsessed with) and Four Steps to Living Your Fantasy (a self-help book she’s reading) have fused in Evangeline’s mind and sent her on a quest for a kiss. But the path to perfection is paved with many bad kisses—the smash mouth, the ear licker, the “misser.” The phrase “I don’t kiss and tell” means nothing to the boys in her school. And worse: someone starts writing her name and number on bathroom walls. And worst of all: the boy she's just kissed turns out to be her best friend’s new crush. Kissing turns out to be way more complicated than the romance novels would have you believe . . .

YA WIT

Wittlinger, Ellen

Heart on My Sleeve

2004

Seniors Chloe, of Massachusetts, and Julian, from Florida, meet and create sparks with one another during a visit to the college each plans to attend. Back home, they cope with how to treat current or potential love interests, best friends, parents, and sisters who have their own baggage. The two teens fan the flames of their mutual attraction through regular correspondence, not only with one another, but also with their recently independent older siblings.

YA ZUS

Zusak, Markus

Getting the Girl

2003

Cameron Wolfe is the quiet one in his family, not a soccer star like his brother Steve or a charming fighter with a new girl every week like his brother Rube. Cam would give anything to be near one of those girls, to love her and treat her right. He especially likes Rube's latest, Octavia, with her brilliant ideas and bright green eyes. But what woman like that would want a loser like him? Maybe Octavia would, Cam discovers. Maybe he'd even have something to say. And those maybes change everything: winning, loving, losing, the Wolfe brothers, and Cameron himself.